Mother Seton: Our Namesake
Elizabeth Ann Bayley Seton, S.C., (August 28, 1774 – January 4, 1821) was the first native-born citizen of the United States to be canonized by the Roman Catholic Church (September 14, 1975).[1] She established the first Catholic school in the nation, at Emmitsburg, Maryland, where she founded the first American congregation of Religious Sisters, the Sisters of Charity.
Dedicated to following the will of God, Elizabeth Ann had a deep devotion to the Eucharist, Sacred Scripture and the Virgin Mary. The 23rd Psalm was her favorite prayer throughout her life. She was a woman of prayer and service who embraced the apostolic spirituality of Louise de Marillac and Vincent de Paul. It had been her original intention to join the Daughters of Charity of St. Vincent de Paul, but the embargo of France due to the Napoleonic Wars prevented this connection. It was only decades later, in 1850, that the Emmitsburg community took the steps to merge with the Daughters, and to become their American branch, as their founders had envisioned. Dedicated to following the will of God, Elizabeth Ann had a deep devotion to the Eucharist, Sacred Scripture and the Virgin Mary. The 23rd Psalm was her favorite prayer throughout her life. She was a woman of prayer and service who embraced the apostolic spirituality of Louise de Marillac and Vincent de Paul. It had been her original intention to join the Daughters of Charity of St. Vincent de Paul, but the embargo of France due to the Napoleonic Wars prevented this connection. It was only decades later, in 1850,that the Emmitsburg community took the steps to merge with the Daughters, and to become their American branch, as their founders had envisioned.
On the 18 December 1959 Elizabeth was declared Venerable by the Sacred Congregation of Rites. Dr. J. Emmett Queen was asked by the Archdiocese of Baltimore to investigate a cure of a child, Ann O'Neill, who was suffering from leukemia. He visited Tufts University Hospital and conferred with other physicians there. The cure was attributed to the intervention of Elizabeth Ann Seton. She was beatified by Pope John XXIII on the 17 March 1963, and canonized by Pope Paul VI on the 14 September 1975, making her the first native-born United States citizen to be canonized. When Pope Paul VI declared her a saint, over one thousand nuns of her Order were present. As a condition for canonization, the Catholic Church requires that for a saint who has not been martyred, at least two miracles take place at his or her intercession. The Holy See recognized that this condition was met when attributing three miracles to Seton's intercession: curing Sister Gertrude Korzendorfer, S.C., of cancer, curing Ann Theresa O’Neill of acute lymphatic leukemia, and curing Carl Kalin of encephalitis.
Her feast day is celebrated as a memorial in the dioceses of the United States on the 4th of January.
Elizabeth Ann Seton is popularly considered a patron saint of Catholic schools. An image of her in bronze appears on the main doors of St. Patrick's Cathedral, New York, labeled as a "Daughter of New York". The Shrine of St. Elizabeth Ann Seton, located in the Church of Our Lady of the Holy Rosary, was built on the site of her former home in Manhattan.
The Mother Seton House at Baltimore, Maryland was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1972. The house had been offered as an inducement to Elizabeth Seton to come to Baltimore in 1808 and there to found a school and occupy the then newly completed house. It is now operated as a museum by St. Mary’s Seminary.
Seton Hall University was founded in 1856 by James Roosevelt Bayley, the son of one of her half-brothers, who also converted to the Catholic Church, and went on to become an Archbishop of Baltimore. Seton Hill University was founded in 1885 by the Sisters of Charity in Greensburg, Pennsylvania, and The College of St. Elizabeth was established in 1899 by another congregation of the Sisters of Charity in Convent Station, New Jersey.
In 2009, she was added to the Calendar of Saints for the Episcopal Church (United States) with a minor feast day on the 4th of January.
Many parish churches are named after her all around the U.S. St. Elizabeth Ann Seton is an important saint, and many admire her.
The Knights of Columbus Council #6724 at Nativty Catholic Church in Brandon Florida is named Mother Seton Council in her honor.